Kitsap's 'Coupon Queens' have savings down to a science

Seabeck resident Lanelle Devlin cuts her grocery bills in half since using coupons.

None

Boxes of coupons await clients at a Frugal In Kitsap event.

JACKSON PARK - On Saturday at the Jackson Park community center, small children raced and squealed amid a group of 20 or so moms bent on saving a buck here, a few cents there.

The women perused a shelf of plastic tubs filled with coupons for snack food, cereal, laundry products and other sundries. They took any coupons they thought they could use and tossed coupons they'd clipped but didn't need into the pool.

They picked through tables of coupon booty — men's shirts, scented candles shaped like pears, sinus medication — offering up their own extra goods for the taking. Door prizes included three boxes of cat food for "picky" pets, six months' worth of toothpaste and a pyramid of pantiliner packets.

Interest in coupons has gone viral in Kitsap County and nationwide with the advent of TLC's "Extreme Couponing," which launched in early April. A recent episode showed one shopper with a fistful of coupons and six grocery carts — obedient husband in tow — counting out 100 Butterfinger bars she planned to obtain for pennies on the dollar.

The "Coupon Queens" behind Frugal in Kitsap — the Facebook group that hosted the coupon exchange at Jackson Park — may not fit the "extreme" profile, but they have taken the age-old art of couponing to a new level.

Adrienne Norris of Port Orchard displayed her recent receipts like ribbons of honor. One showed that, using a combination of coupons and in-store deals, she got $129.38 worth of groceries for $31.38. Another, from Walmart, listed 39 items, including Easter candy, baby formula and cheese, for $4.99.

Norris has a small warehouse in her garage filled with canned goods, paper products, condiments, frozen meat and more. Her goal is to maintain a six-month supply for her family of four.

Coupons represent a billion dollars in annual savings to shoppers worldwide, according to the Coupon Information Corporation. Yet they clearly benefit manufacturers and retailers by steering consumers toward certain products and services.

Norris is fine with that. Items she buys at discount are things she'd use anyway. Some deals are too good to pass up. If she can't use all 12 bottles of ketchup before the expiration date, she'll give extras to the food bank.

"Toilet paper, I could care less, as long as it does the job," countered her fellow Facebook hostess Lanelle Devlin of Seabeck.

But in this game, you pick your battles. Devlin won't buy just any hair color. It's got to be L'Oreal.

Norris, estimates she routinely saves 60 percent on her purchases. Her secret is a systematic strategy for finding, filing and using coupons and discounts. She explained to the group how she keeps a binder categorized by store, product or service, and expiration date.

"It seems almost like a research project. It reminds me of college," said Karen Goddard of Bremerton, who started couponing after her son Abraham, 2, was born but feels she still has much to learn.

Frugal in Kitsap's Facebook audience has grown by leaps and bounds since Norris began posting in early March, along with Devlin and Kimarie Graham of Jackson Park. Tapping the collective knowledge of nearly 7,000 monthly users (7.4 percent of them men), the group can track discounts far more closely than their mothers or grandmothers did.

Besides the big chains, Frugal in Kitsap is open to highlighting locally owned stores, but they've got to have "killer deals," said Devlin.

While couponing has been around for decades, the desire to live penny-wise is greater than ever.

"I think it's because right now, in the recession, people really need to save money," said Norris. "Moms really want to stay home and take care of their families. It's always seemed so difficult. With the power of the Internet and these blogs, we are making it look easy."

The New Frugal goes far beyond coupons. For most it's a lifestyle that includes consignment shopping, gardening, canning and exchange of goods on websites like Kitsap County's 2Good2Toss.com or freecycle.com — Norris and Devlin met there over a several bags of dog food.

Interest in coupons has breathed new life into ailing sales of newspapers — remember them?

According to Dennis Harang, the Kitsap Sun's director of distribution, this paper and others in the Scripps chain have seen a rush on newspapers, especially Sunday editions, since the advent of "Extreme Couponing."

Harang would like to capitalize on the coupon boom — and help out customers. But there are limits to what he can do. Like other papers, the Kitsap Sun answers to the Audit Bureau of Circulation, which tracks circulation — of interest to advertisers — and limits how many newspapers can be counted for circulation numbers at one address. On agreement with advertisers, coupons in unsold papers must be destroyed after a certain time. There are also rules governing single-copy sales.

Norris says coupon enthusiasts should exercise common sense and courtesy. Her rule of thumb is one paper per family member.

Frugal in Kitsap discourages other practices that have cropped up in the extreme couponing craze, such as clearing the shelves of products or using coupons for products other than those they're designated for.

As with any form of virtual currency, couponing is subject to exploitation, according to the Coupon Information Corporation, a nonprofit association of consumer product manufacturers dedicated to fighting coupon fraud.

The corporation keeps a current list of counterfeit coupons, along with tips for manufacturers, law enforcement and consumers. According to its website, the CIC has helped in exposing fraud schemes involving more than $750 million.

Some practices, while not illegal, are just not cool, Frugal in Kitsap maintains. When, for example, does stockpiling become hoarding?

One shopper on "Extreme Couponing" recently bragged about his stash of more than 1,000 toothpaste tubes, for which he had to build an addition to his storage area and for which he paid only sales tax.

"I think they're too extreme," said Graham. "I don't think anyone needs 1,000 rolls of toilet paper at home, even if you can get it for free, which is why I watch the show, because I don't want to become like them."